Sometimeswarisnecessary.ResearchJustWarTheoryandexplainmoralandimmoral actionsofwar. TheJustWarTheoryJacobKuperstok Whilewaritselfcanneverbeanidealmethodtoachievepeaceandjustice,therearetimeswhencertain actionsofwarcanbemorallyjustified.Thejustwartheorydistinguishesbetweenmoralandimmoral actionsofwar,andalthoughmademanyyearsago,isstillmorethanrelevantinourworldtoday. Fromaverysimpleperspective,theJustWarTheoryattemptstojustifythereasonwhywarsare foughtandalsothemannerinwhichtheyarefought.TheJustwartheoryusestwomainaspectsin ordertodoso.Itjustifiesactsofwarthroughatheoreticalaspectandalsothroughahistoricalaspect usingpreviousencountersinhistoryinordertojustifyfutureencounters.Therearetwoformsofcriteria totheJustWarTheory.TheJusAdBellum(latinforrighttowar)setofcriteriadescribeswhenyou havetherighttogotowar.TheJusInBellosetofcriteriadescribeswhatyouhavetherighttoconduct inwar. (http://www.iep.utm.

edu/justwar/) TheJustwartheoryisbroughtbacktothewritingsofAugustine,howeveralongthetimelinetheideas andprinciplesbecomemorerefined.Atfirstwartheoristswouldfocusmoreonthelegalaspectofwar andlessonthemoralaspect.Howeverafterthesecondworldwar,therewasaconsensusthatasetof justwarprincipleswouldbeneededtoprovidetheappropriateamountofmoralityneededtojustifythe ideaofwar.(http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/rethinkingthejustwarpart1/?_r=0)

TheJusAdBellumisasetofcriterianeededtobemetbeforemakingwarpermissible.Thesearesixofthe mainprinciplestotheJusAdBellum(thereareofcoursemore,howevermostwouldagreethefollowing

principles,howeveryouwishtocallthem,wouldbesomeofthemostimportant).Thefirstprinciplewould verysimplybeaJustCause,easytounderstandasalegitimatereasontobeneedingthewar.Thesecond principleisTherightauthority.Thismeansthatawarisonlyjustwhenitiswagedbythecorrectand legitimateauthority(thisdependsonthestate).ThethirdprincipleistheRightIntention,awarcannotbe justifitisforacountriespersonalintentionsandgain.Awarmustbefoughtinordertogainpeace.andthat alone.ThefourthprincipleistohaveReasonableHope,obviouslytoengageinajustwarwouldrequirea fairchanceofbeingsuccessfulinreachingthedesiredoutcome.ThefifthprincipleisthatofProportionality, Ifoneisattacked,theycanonlyattackbackproportionallytotheoriginalattack.Thelastprincipleonthis lististhelastresort,meaningthattheoptionofwarmustbealastresorttoallnonviolentapproaches attemptedpreviously. (http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/Philosophers/Augustine/augustine_justwar.html) WhenalreadyatwartheJusInBello(latinforrightinthewar)describeshowajustwarcanbe fought.Italsohasmanyprinciplesincludingsomeofonespreviouslymentioned,someofthemchanging. TheprincipleofProportionalitynowdescribesthefactthatthecivilianinjuriesmustnotbeexcessivein accordancetothemilitaryadvantagegained.TheJusInBelloalsodemandsthefairtreatmentof prisonersofwar.AnotherextremelyimportantprincipleMalumInSe(latinforevilinitself)dictates thatsoldiersmaynotuseweaponsormethodsofwarfarewhichareconsideredevil(ex:forcinga soldiertofightagainsttheirownside),orwhoseeffectscannotbecontrolled.Thisprinciplebringsa massivecontradictiontotheuseofnuclearweapons. Usingallofthecriteriadiscussed,awar/actsofwar,canbemorallyjustifiedaccordingtotheJustWar Theory.Therearealternativesbeliefstowar,howeveronthetopicofwaritselfmanywouldagreethat thistheoryisinfactoneofthemostJustwaysofapproachingthetopicofwar.TheJustwartheorycan

beappliedtoanywarsituationinhistoryaswell. AfterunderstandingtheJustWarTheoryandtheprinciplesthatitentails,animportantquestionarises KnowingtheJustWarTheorywasnotcreatedinourtimesandhasbeenaroundforalongtime,doits principlesapplytoustoday? Theanswermanywouldagreewithisthat,yes,itdoesapplytoustoday.Totakeitevenastepfurther onemaythinkitappliesevenmoreso,thisisbecauseofthemorerecentinventionofnuclearweapons. Todaywithallnewmethodsofwar,weneedmorethaneveramoralcodeoflawstojustifythe actionswetake.Thisisbecauseoftechnologycausingwartobemoreaccessiblethanever,andmore instantandevensomemightsayunfairthanever.Alsomanywouldsaytheinventionofnuclear weaponscontradictstheJustWarTheory,forthereasonsmentionedearlierofMalumInSe,andalso ofcoursebecausethereasonofproportionalityandtheideaofharminginnocents. Toconclude,TheJustWarTheoryisanexemplaryformofbringingsomeamountofjusticetotheidea ofanessentialwar.Inourdayitappliesevenmoreso,withModernWarfareandofcoursenuclear weapons.TheJustWarTheorybringsamoremoralstructuretosuchanimmoralidea.Ifithastobe done,letitbedoneundertherightprinciples.
Bibliography/Citation "GreatPhilosophers:AugustineonWar."OregonState.N.p.,2002.Web.14Oct.2013. <http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/Philosophers/Augustine/augustine_justwar.html >. "JustWarTheory."Wikipedia.WikimediaFoundation,n.d.Web.14Oct.2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_war_theory>. Mcmahan,Jeff."RethinkingtheJustWar."Editorial.NewYorkTimesTheOpinionPages.New YorkTimes,11Nov.2012.Web.14Oct.2013. <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/rethinkingthejustwarpart1/?_r=0>.

Mosely,Alexander."JustWarTheory."InternetEncyclopediaofPhilosophy.N.p.,10Feb.2009. Web.14Oct.2013.<http://www.iep.utm.edu/justwar/>.